Page 106 of Overexposed

Oh, my heart lodged in my throat.

“While our first meeting wasn’t as prosaic,” Ollie said, “I’m really fucking glad I got there in time to deal with the asshole. Just wish I’d broken his legs now.”

“Me too,” Gem and Seven said in one voice. No, that wasn’t creepy at all.

“Still, Snow—you know why I call you that, don’t you?” Ollie studied me.

“No?”

“Snow White’s hair was black as ebony.” He slid his fingers through my hair, combing it. “I’m pretty sure I fell for you that night when you stubbornly refused to go to the hospital or see a doctor, and I had to drag you back to the house.”

I bit my lip. That was so damn sappy, and it made the tears burn in my eyes all over again.

“You stole my heart, Stella Charles. You aren’t allowed to give it back. But I’m with Gem—I don’t want this to end.”

This…all of us?

I shifted my gaze to Seven. All three went quiet until Gem smacked Seven. “Not funny. Play nice.”

For his part, Seven smirked. “Stray is never going to buy me being nice.”

“Nope,” I said. “I much prefer you being you. Even when you’re an asshole.”

“Then let’s say you’ve been a thorn in my side from the beginning. Mouthy. Irreverent.Stubborn.”

I shrugged on the last.

“You’re also brutally honest with me when few people are willing to be. Even if I don’t like hearing it, I like that you’ll say it. I could wish you had better taste in movies, but then…you like medespitethe fact that I’m an actor. I like that?—”

Gem elbowed him.

“Fine, I love that about you.” He shot a look at his twin. “Fuck off, Gem. I didn’t interrupt your pitch.”

“That’s because his pitch was good,” Ollie volunteered helpfully.

A laugh escaped me, and I smacked Ollie’s thigh. “Seven is doing just fine, even without a script.”

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“Don’t mention it,” I retorted. “Seriously just…continue.”

“All of us want you to stay,” Seven said. “You may have noticed that we’ve been talking. We don’t always agree on everything, but on this we agree: wewantyou.”

“Weloveyou,” Gem stressed.

“We can’t get enough of you,” Ollie added.

“Guys…” I paused to gather it all together before I downed the glass of wine. Courage was courage, and if they could be this open with me, well, time to suck it up, buttercup. “I love all of you, but…can we really make it work? I mean three of you and one of me? What will the columns say? What about your careers?”

“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” Seven started. “We can make anything work if we want it badly enough. The three of us are living proof of that. You, Stella Charles? So are you. You wanted to take care of your dad, and you did whatever was necessary, even dealing with an ass like me.”

“As for the three of us and the one of you,” Gem said, stepping up to answer my other questions, “not sure if you’ve noticed, Slick, but it’sbeenworking for us. Yeah, we butt heads, and some of us are greedy fucks. I don’t care that Seven is your public boyfriend. I wouldn’t care if Ollie was. Or both. Whatever. I don’t give afuckwhat the columns say.”

“As for our careers,” Ollie said, “financially? We’re solid at the moment. I’ve been thinking about doing more producing, so if the parts dry up, I’ll find that perfect script and make sure it gets made. If the choice is my career or you? I choose you.”

“Carriage Pictures?” I looked at Seven.

“I had Jerry lay it out for them. He wasn’t a fan of playing hardball, but I’m not letting a deal derail our lives. I’ll still make movies whether it’s for Carriage Pictures or B64 Studios.”

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